Common Management Tasks and Navigation in Windows

Windows Server® 2012 R2, Windows® 8.1, Windows Server® 2012, and Windows® 8 feature the new Modern user interface. This topic helps you find and open common management tools, create shortcuts to frequently-used programs, run programs with elevated user rights, and perform common tasks like signing in and out, restarting, and shutting down computers that are running Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012, or Windows 8.

Windows Server Technical Preview and Windows 10 Technical Preview include updates to the Modern user interface, such as the restoration of a Start menu that includes tool and app folders.

You can install Windows Server Technical Preview, Windows Server 2012 R2, or Windows Server 2012 with a minimal user interface that is well-suited to remote management. For more information, see Windows Server Installation Options.

When Windows apps like Internet Explorer are open but not in use, they are automatically minimized and become inactive, freeing resources for other apps. This functionality is similar to a cell phone, tablet PC, or other mobile computer. It is not necessary to close an app, but you can follow steps in this section if you want to do so.

On the Start screen (or the Start menu in Windows 10 Technical Preview or Windows Server Technical Preview, type one of the following, and then press Enter to open common Control Panel management tools.

ncpa.cpl to open Control Panel\Network and Internet\Network Connections.

sysdm.cpl to open the System Properties dialog box that is available at Control Panel\System and Security\System\Advanced System Settings.

appwiz.cpl to open Control Panel\Programs\Programs and Features\Uninstall or change a program.

inetcpl.cpl to open the Internet Properties dialog box that is available at Control Panel\Network and Internet\Internet Options.

The Administrative Tools folder contains links to many common Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-ins, including Computer Management, Event Viewer, and the management tools for installed roles or features.

Tip

The Start screen settings (accessed by pressing the Windows logo key+i on the Start screen) include an option to allow or prevent tools in the Administrative Tools folder from being displayed in search results and on the Start screen. This setting is enabled by default.

On the Start menu, in the Search box, start typing Administrative Tools.

Click the Administrative Tools folder when it is displayed in search results.

Alternatively, you can open Administrative Tools from Control Panel\System and Security\Administrative Tools.

If you are running Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 10 Technical Preview on Windows 10 Technical Preview, or you are running the full installation option of Windows Server Technical Preview, you can access administrative tools from the Tools menu in Server Manager.

On the Start screen, click Administrative Tools. You can also type Administrative Tools on the Start screen, and then click Administrative Tools in the list of results.

Tip

If the Show Administrative tools setting is turned off, the Administrative Tools folder and its contents will not appear in the Settings results. The Show Administrative tools setting is available when you hover the mouse cursor over the upper or lower right edge of the Start screen, click Settings, and then click Tiles.

In File Explorer, navigate to the location of the program for which you want to create a shortcut.

Right-click the executable file in the program folder, and then click Create shortcut. Because of restricted user access rights, Windows does not allow shortcuts to be created in some folders, including the Program Files folder.

Drag the shortcut to a folder of your choice, to the desktop, or to the desktop taskbar. If the shortcut cannot be created in the location of the executable file (typically because the access rights for the Program Files folder are restricted), and you are prompted to select a location for the shortcut, browse to the Desktop folder.

Add the Run as a different user command to the app bar by enabling the following Group Policy setting: User Configuration/Administrative Templates/Start Menu and Taskbar/Show "Run as different user" command on Start. To start Local Group Policy Editor, on the Start screen, type gpedit.msc, and then press Enter.

Use the runas command from a command prompt. For more information about how to use the runas command, at a command prompt, type runas /?, and then press Enter.

By default, Server Manager starts when a member of the Administrators group signs in to a computer that is running Windows Server 2012 R2 or Windows Server 2012. If Server Manager is not already open, if you are a standard (non-Administrator) user on the server, or if administrators have changed Server Manager default settings so that it does not open automatically at sign-in, open Server Manager by using procedures in this section.

To run Command Prompt as an administrator from the Start screen on Windows Server 2012 R2, type cmd, right-click Command Prompt in the Search results, and on the shortcut menu, click Run as administrator.

To run Command Prompt as an administrator from the Start screen on Windows Server 2012, type cmd, right-click Command Prompt in the Apps results, and then in the taskbar, click Run as Administrator.

To open Event Viewer from the Start screen, type eventvwr.msc, and then press Enter.

To open Event Viewer from the desktop, press the Windows logo key+R to open the Run dialog box, type eventvwr.msc, and then press Enter.

Tip

Alternatively, you can open a technology-specific snap-in from the Administrative Tools folder. For information about how to access the Administrative Tools folder, see Access Administrative Tools in this topic.

This section provides keyboard shortcuts that are unchanged from Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, and a table of shortcuts that are new for the Modern user interface in Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012.

Before you connect to a Remote Desktop (also known as RDP) session, you can configure the session to accept Windows key combinations, whether the session is contained within a window, or occupies the full screen.

In the Keyboard area of the Local Resources tab, select one of the following from the Apply Windows key combinations drop-down list.

To apply keyboard shortcuts to a full-screen Remote Desktop session, select Only when using the full screen.

To apply keyboard shortcuts to a Remote Desktop session that is contained within a window, select On the remote computer.

When you are finished configuring other settings for your Remote Desktop session, click Connect to connect to the session and start working, or click Save on the General tab to save your connection settings as an RDP file that you can use for future connections.

Before you start a virtual machine connection, you can apply Windows key combinations to virtual machine connections on a physical host computer by editing the Hyper-V settings for the physical computer in the Hyper-V Manager console.

Note

The setting in this procedure is selected by default if the Hyper-V host computer is running Windows Server 2012 R2 or Windows Server 2012. If the host computer is running Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008 R2, or Windows Server 2008, you must change the setting to apply Windows key combinations to virtual machine connections.

If you are running Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 8.1 or Windows 8, or you are running Windows Server 2012 R2 or Windows Server 2012, open Server Manager, and then open Hyper-V Manager from the Tools menu in Server Manager.

On the Start screen, click Hyper-V Manager.

If the Hyper-V Manager tile is not on the Start screen, type all or part of the name, Hyper-V Manager until the Hyper-V Manager tile appears on the Start screen.

In the tree pane, right-click the physical host computer, and then click Hyper-V Settings.

In the User area of the navigation pane, click Keyboard to display keyboard shortcut settings.

Select Use on the virtual machine to allow new virtual machine connections to accept Windows key combinations from the physical computer. Click OK to save your changes and close the Hyper-V Settings dialog box.

Note

This setting does not apply to virtual machine connections that are already open.